I appreciate the responses guys, thanks alot. :up:

Well i just bought a new computer from ebay with my part of my tax return how do these specs look.

Athlon 64 X2 4400
1 Gig of DDR2 800mhz
100 Gigabyte Western Digital Raptor Hd @10,000 rpm
18xDVD rom
18xDVD/CD RW
evga 7600 GT 256mb

Buy another gig of ram .

Alright so I've got a question mainly concerning RAM. Right now I've got a P4 3.0 GHz, a Radeon X800 XL, and a gig of PC-4200 RAM. I know this probably won't get me max settings in SH4, but right now I'm just stuck on this DX10 thing and if I should go for that 8800 XXX card or just get a good DX9 card, and I'm also on the fence for a processor upgrade to a C2D E6600 or something because it will set me back more than another gig of RAM. I really, really, really want to upgrade in so many areas, but my budget is a tad limited.

Anyway, I just want to know how much of a difference another gig of RAM will make. Right now, I've got 2 sticks of 512 MB PC4200 RAM, which also brings me to 2 more questions. How big of a factor is the speed of the RAM, and is having 2 1 GB sticks better than having 4 512 MB sticks? I'm just kinda frustrated, because a year ago, 1GB of RAM was generous and I found a good deal on 2 512 MB sticks, but now I've heard it's probably better to just get 2 1 GB sticks if I want to upgrade, which is pricey. Also, I think the PC4200 is the max (or close to it) speed of RAM I can use on my motherboard, so if speed matters, then I should probably wait to get a new motherboard.

So I guess what I'm trying to ask is...well, kinda complicated. :doh:
1. Should I get another GB of RAM, and if so, 2 1GB sticks, or another 2 512 MB sticks?
2. Does the speed of the RAM matter? Should I consider a new motherboard? (My current one is some Dell POS I know nothing about. I've got a Dimension 4700, so it probably isn't top-notch.)

Any advice about anything, including my inexcusable lack of time spent with SH3 and how to remedy it, would be appreciated. Sorry for any run-on sentences and atrocious grammar. I'm tired :dead: . To the bunks I go....

I just bought an E6600 and Evga 8800GTX (see specs in sig below), and too say I am impressed with the processor and card would be an understatement. They simply take everything I can throw at them.

As far as ram goes, it really depends on what you plan on doing (oc'ing or not). Either way, I would get 2 x 1GB sticks rather than 4 x 512mb sticks.

Even the cheapest 8800 card chews up and spits out games, I would say go for that, I would have if I didn't just buy a 7950 :(

Nothing wrong with a 7950, SC.

It's certainly not a card to scoff at. I'm pretty sure you will be fine with SHIV. :)

Thanks for the input. Yeah, the Core 2 Duo's and the new 8800's look fantastic and beyond words, but I'd probably only be able to get one (not both), and if I go for the video card, I'd have to get the GTS one, but I've heard it's not too much of a loss.

Thanks for the RAM info too. I highly doubt I'll be overclocking anytime soon, so I'll probably just stick with the PC4200, which I think is 533 MHz or something, and has been satisfactory for me so far. And I will consider the 2 x 1GB sticks more now, although it would be around $200 for 'em. Dammit, why didn't I just get a single 1GB stick to begin with :damn: .....I guess it's the "price I pay." Haha, funny joke :up: .

One last thing that's a bit unrelated. Does anyone know anything about ATI's DX10 cards, except that they've been delayed (again) ? For some reason, I've always liked ATI over nVidia, but I might decide to switch sides if the R600 fails to impress.

I haven’t read thru the entire thread so I’m not sure if you posted your computer specs or not. I’m currently in the process of building a new Core 2 Duo build with a 8800GTS, and the one thing that I found in my research before purchasing is that the 8800 cards require fast CPUs to get the full power out the card. The Futuremark forums had more than a dozen threads of people putting these new hot cards in older PCs and didn’t see the “blazing” speeds that others with newer builds are seeing. If you go the video card route, make sure your CPU is fast enough so that it won't become a bottleneck and that your power supply can handle it.

http://www.tomshardware.com/2006/11/...e_fastest_cpu/

ATIxNV
 

Hi,

which of these gfxs will be better for SHIV?
X1650XT or 7600GT?

I've got poor powersupply (350W), so i cannot risk to buy X1950Pro or 7900GS...

Thanks.

7600GT has 12 pixel pipes, 1 texture mapping unit and 5 vertex processing units. X1650XT on the other hand has 24 pixel pipes, 1 texture mapping unit and 8 vertex processing units. So with twice as many pixel pipelines the X1650XT should have a performance advantage over the 7600GT.

This situation is on the paper. However, in practice you discover that both do the same job. My personal oppinion, based on my experience, is that sh3 (and of course sh4) engine, is slighlty optimized for ATI.

The next ATI card is, if the pcitures I've seen are correct and not just my eyes playing tricks on me,...HUGE. I think it might even be somewhat longer than an 8800GTX. Essentially, good luck fitting it in a Midsize tower. Also, you will probably want a much beefier PSU (depending on what else you were running).

I'm not much for brand loyalty, but I just don't like the size of the new ATI (as I stated earlier...if the pics I've seen of it aren't just a size misrepresentation). Keep in mind, ATI is playing catch-up. If I were you, I would wait to see what Nvidia has to answer ATI's offering. The 8800 series has been out a little while and has had more time to mature.

I just came up with a solution for my computer worries . I will confiscate my sons laptop . He doesnt know it yet , but he owns a lean mean SH4 machine .

Sometimes you just have to pull rank. :D

Ugh, thought I was going to be able to bump this comp from 1Gig up to 2Gig of RAM for sh4, ran this utility called PC Wizard which gave me the motherboard specs and said it could take 2 Gig. But the shop says it's wrong according to the HP specs for the comp ... should have checked the HP website, I guess. I only hope sh4 will run semi-ok - may have to crank down the video settings.

Do you think I will be able to play with my new laptop?

AMD Turion™ 64 X2 mobile technology TL-56 at 1.8GHz
2GB RAM
120GB HD
NVIDIA GeForce Go 6150 (UMA)with up to 288MB shared video memory

Thanks!

X800 Pro ! Good enough ???
 

Hi Mr. ALL !!

:ping:

Will a 256Mb X800 Pro AGP 8x do ok on this new game ??


lol, btw i only found out US had subs in WW2 was when this game was announced.... :hmm:

x800 is fast but has no Pixel Shader 3.0

Its hard to tell but maybe water will look like SH3 (not transparent). I have not seen a screenshot or comment how SH4 will look like with PS2.0

http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=107323

You will be able to run the game fine on med-high detail :up:

I dont think PS 3.0 will be a problem either.

Discovering that my RAM isn't upgradeable beyond 1Gig has me thinking about a new comp, and about building my own ... does anyone know a how-to site that can help particularly in choosing components, making sure they're compatible etc? Also, a good direct-buy site in Canada? Right now I'm looking at Tiger Direct's Canadian site.